Massacre of the Innocents
about 1510–1520
- Medium
- Red and black chalk, with traces of brown ink, heightened with white heightening
- Dimensions
- 27.9 × 42.7 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-208813
On learning of the birth of Christ, whom the Magi called "the King of the Jews," King Herod felt his throne was in jeopardy. Knowing only that the baby was somewhere in Bethlehem, the king ordered Jewish boys around Bethlehem under two years old to be murdered. Alerted by angels, Christ's parents fled to Egypt and saved him. For this drawing, Amico Aspertini borrowed from the ancient Roman sculpture that he had seen in Rome five or ten years before. The intertwining figures at right parallel those on ancient Roman sarcophagi. Aspertini's art also included unidealized shapes and awkward bodies. Original and unconventional for the date, his figures look like local peasants rather than ideal types. Aspertini's draftsmanship characteristically included encrusted white highlights, squat figures, and manic energy. Between about 1510 and 1520, he often used this colorful combination of red and black chalk with white bodycolor. His extreme white heightening lends the drawing a feeling of near three-dimensionality.
Provenance
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Registry history
- about 1510–1520 — Recorded in the collection of J. Paul Getty Museum — drawings
Registered on Collect24
The identity of the collector is never published. Purchase information, documents and the exact location of the artwork remain private.
Ownership not yet verified on Collect24
This artwork is documented in the Global Art Registry, but no Collect24 account is linked to it as the owner. Claiming keeps this record and its Collect24 Art ID — nothing is created a second time.
Do you own or represent this artwork? Claim this artwork →Auction history
Public sale records matched to this work. Ownership is never disclosed.
Loading sale records…